[Perhaps Congress could pass a law? --Declan] --- From: "Nathan Cochrane" <ncochraneat_private> To: "Declan McCullagh \(E-mail\)" <declanat_private> Date: Mon, 23 Jun 2003 14:51:47 +1000 Message-ID: <014c01c33943$27f31520$405002a0at_private> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-Priority: 3 (Normal) X-MSMail-Priority: Normal X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook CWS, Build 9.0.2416 (9.0.2910.0) X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V5.50.4133.2400 Hi Declan US economist, Edward Castronova, has discovered that female avatars, from worlds such as EverQuest, trade online at an average 10 per cent discount to their price were they male-designated. Castronova theorises that the same forces at play in the real world that keep womens' earning power below that of their male counterparts -- even where they have identical skills -- are also at work online. Men, it seems, like to appoint in their real-world successors analogs of themselves. Online, that behaviour carries over into who they appoint as their virtual alter-ego, the avatar. "(R)elations between avatars are gender-based, and include chivalry, dating, and sex," Castronova notes in the 45-page report, The Price of Man and Woman: A Hedonic Pricing Model of Avatar Attributes in a Synthetic World. "(A)bility seems more important than sex in determining the value of a body. Nonetheless, among comparable avatars, females do sell at a significant price discount. "The discount may stem from a number of causes, including discrimination in Earth society, the maleness of the EverQuest player base, or differences in well-being related to male and female courtship roles. We do know, however, that these differences cannot be caused by sex-based differences in the abilities of the body, since in the fantasy world of Norrath, there are none." Castronova's first analysis of the Norrath economics, which I wrote about ($A1.65 to f2 Network members) at the time, found the virtual world ranked higher as a measure of GDP than some small nations. MORE: http://bilskirnir.blogspot.com/2003_06_01_bilskirnir_archive.html#1056342647 76316268 - Nathan Cochrane Deputy IT Editor :Next: The Age and Sydney Morning Herald http://www.next.theage.com.au ********************************************************************************* The information contained in this e-mail message and any accompanying files is or may be confidential. If you are not the intended recipient, any use, dissemination, reliance, forwarding, printing or copying of this e-mail or any attached files is unauthorised. This e-mail is subject to copyright. No part of it should be reproduced, adapted or communicated without the written consent of the copyright owner. If you have received this e-mail in error, please advise the sender immediately by return e-mail, or telephone and delete all copies. Fairfax does not guarantee the accuracy or completeness of any information contained in this e-mail or attached files. Internet communications are not secure, therefore Fairfax does not accept legal responsibility for the contents of this message or attached files. **************************************************************************** ***** ------------------------------------------------------------------------- POLITECH -- Declan McCullagh's politics and technology mailing list You may redistribute this message freely if you include this notice. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- To subscribe to Politech: http://www.politechbot.com/info/subscribe.html This message is archived at http://www.politechbot.com/ Declan McCullagh's photographs are at http://www.mccullagh.org/ Like Politech? Make a donation here: http://www.politechbot.com/donate/ -------------------------------------------------------------------------
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